During the break, Lionel Messi‘s Argentina closed out their fixtures with two strong wins — a narrow 1-0 victory over Venezuela and a dominant 6-0 rout of Puerto Rico — helping them move up in the standings. Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Portugal, meanwhile, edged past Ireland 1-0 before conceding a late equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Hungary, leaving their ranking unchanged.
Despite Argentina’s recent success in friendlies, their earlier loss to Ecuador in South American World Cup qualifying ultimately prevented them from overtaking Spain, who remain at the top of the FIFA ranking.
But thanks to France’s 2-2 draw against Iceland in the fourth round of UEFA qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, Argentina climbed into second place, with Les Bleus losing that spot to Lionel Messi and company.
As for Portugal, the draw against Hungary cost them valuable points, keeping Ronaldo’s team in fifth place — the same position they held in the previous update. England, ranked fourth, maintained their spot after winning both of their October matches, leaving Portugal with no room to climb.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates a goal against Hungary. (Getty Images)
Although Portugal didn’t climb in the rankings, it was still a special international window for Cristiano Ronaldo. The captain scored a brace against Hungary, reaching 41 goals in Qualifiers and breaking Carlos Ruiz’s record of Guatemala to become the all-time top scorer in World Cup qualifying history.
see also
Ronaldo leads Messi in list of highest-paid soccer players this year — but who’s third?
Updated FIFA top 10
With the latest FIFA ranking update, the projected top seeds for the 2026 World Cup group draw would currently include: Mexico, the United States, and Canada (as host nations), along with Spain, Argentina, France, England, Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy.
The updated FIFA ranking look as follows:
- 1- Spain
- 2- Argentina
- 3- France
- 4- England
- 5- Portugal
- 6- Netherlands
- 7- Brazil
- 8- Belgium
- 9- Italy
- 10- Germany
